Abstract
Silica aerogel superinsulation products have a tremendous growth potential, particularly for industrial and pipe insulation. However, the high production cost and the poor mechanical properties prevent the adoption of silica aerogel superinsulation outside of the established niche markets. In this paper, we address these two barriers. We analyze the solvent use of current production processes for ambient-dried silica aerogel and derive a minimal solvent process that approaches the theoretical minimum of one volume of solvent for one volume of aerogel. We apply this process at the pilot scale and produce aerogel granulate with a thermal conductivity of 17.4 mW/(m·K). A review of the different mechanical reinforcement strategies reveals that strengthening typically comes with a penalty in thermal conductivity. In contrast, we highlight some of our recent work on hybrid polysaccharide (cellulose, pectin)—silica aerogels, where the mechanical reinforcement did not significantly increase thermal conductivity as a promising avenue for more robust silica-based hybrid aerogel materials.
Graphical Abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Koebel M, Rigacci A, Achard P (2011) Aerogels for superinsulation: a synoptic view. In: Aegerter MA, Leventis N, Koebel MM (eds) Aerogels handbook. Springer, New York, pp 607–633
Koebel M, Rigacci A, Achard P (2012) J Sol–Gel Sci Technol 63:315–339
Maleki H, Durães L, Portugal A (2014) J Non-Cryst Solids 385:55–74
Wong JCH, Kaymak H, Brunner S, Koebel MM (2014) Microporous Mesoporous Mater 183:23–29
Kistler SS (1932) J Phys Chem 36:52–64
Kistler SS (1931) Nature 127:741
Flörke OW, Graetsch HA, Brunk F, Benda L, Paschen S, Bergna HE, Roberts WO, Welsh WA, Libanati C, Ettlinger M, Kerner D, Maier M, Meon W, Schmoll R, Gies H, Schiffmann D (2000) Silica, Ullmann’s encyclopedia of industrial chemistry. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Berlin
Nicolaon GA, Teichner S (1968) J Bull Soc Chim Fr 1900:1906
Schwertfeger F, Frank D, Schmidt M (1998) J Non-Cryst Solids 225:24–29
Aegerter MA, Leventis N, Koebel MM (2011) Aerogels handbook. Springer, New York
Hüsing N, Schubert U (2008) Organically modified monolithic silica aerogels. In: Schubert U, Hüsing N, Laine R (eds) Materials syntheses. Springer, Vienna, pp 39–45
Schwertfeger F, Emmerling A, Gross J, Schubert U, Fricke J (1994) Organically modified silica aerogels. In: Attia Y (ed) Sol–gel processing and applications. Plenum press, New York, pp 343–347
Zhao S, Manic MS, Ruiz-Gonzalez F, Koebel MM (2015) Aerogels, the sol–gel handbook. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Germany, pp 519–574
Malfait WJ, Zhao S, Verel R, Iswar S, Rentsch D, Fener R, Zhang Y, Milow B, Koebel MM (2015) Chem Mater. doi:10.1021/acs.chemmater.1025b02801
Schwertfeger F (1998)Process for producing organically modified aerogel. WO1998005591 A1
Koebel M, Zhao S, Brunner S, Simmen C (2015) Process for the production of an aerogel material. WO2015014813 A1
Prakash S, Brinker J, Hurd A, Rao SM (1995) Nature 374:439–443
Rao AV, Kulkarni MM, Amalnerkar DP, Seth T (2006) Appl Surf Sci 206:262–270
Malfait WJ, Verel R, Koebel MM (2014) J Phys Chem C 118:25545–25554
Huber L, Zhao S, Koebel MM (2015) In Cost-effective aerogel production by one-pot process, International conference future building & districts sustainability from nano to urban scale, Lausanne, Switzerland, Sept 9–11, 2015. http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/212778/files/cisbat_proc_VolI_online.pdf
Katti A, Shimpi N, Roy S, Lu H, Fabrizio EF, Dass A, Capadona LA, Leventis N (2005) Chem Mater 18:285–296
Yin W, Venkitachalam S, Jarrett E, Staggs S, Leventis N, Lu H, Rubenstein D (2010) J Biomed Mater Res Part A 92:1431–1439
Nguyen BN, Meador MAB, Medoro A, Arendt V, Randall J, McCorkle L, Shonkwiler B (2010) ACS Appl. Mater Interfaces 2:1430–1443
Duan Y (2012) Fundamental studies on polymer and organic-inorganic hybrid nanoparticles reinforced silica aerogels, Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Ann Arbor, 2012, p 257. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap/10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:akron1333079860
Yuan B, Ding S, Wang D, Wang G, Li H (2012) Mat Lett 75:204–206
Pekala RW (1989) J Mater Sci 24:3221–3227
Rätzsch M, Bucka H, Ivanchev S, Pavlyuchenko V, Leitner P, Primachenko ON (2004) Macromol Symp 217:431–443
Leventis N (2007) Acc Chem Res 40:874–884
Biesmans G, Randall D, Francais E, Perrut M (1998) J Non-Cryst Solids 225:36–40
Rigacci A, Marechal JC, Repoux M, Moreno M, Achard P (2004) J Non-Cryst Solids 350:372–378
Chidambareswarapattar C, McCarver PM, Luo H, Lu H, Sotiriou-Leventis C, Leventis N (2013) Chem Mater 25:3205–3224
Li L, Yalcin B, Nguyen BN, Meador MAB, Cakmak M (2009) ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 1:2491–2501
Diascorn N, Calas S, Sallée H, Achard P, Rigacci A (2015) J Supercrit Fluids. doi:10.1016/j.supflu.2015.1005.1012
Weigold L, Mohite DP, Mahadik-Khanolkar S, Leventis N, Reichenauer G (2013) J Non-Cryst Solids 368:105–111
Pekala RW, Alviso CT, LeMay JD (1990) J Non-Cryst Solids 125:67–75
Tan C, Fung BM, Newman JK, Vu C (2001) Adv Mater 13:644–646
Jin H, Nishiyama Y, Wada M, Kuga S (2004) Colloids Surf A 240:63–67
Chen H-B, Chiou B-S, Wang Y-Z, Schiraldi DA (2013) ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 5:1715–1721
Shamsuri AA, Abdullah DK, Daik R (2012) Cellulose Chem Technol 46:45–52
Liu X, Wang M, Risen WM Jr (2002) Polymer-attached functional inorganic-organic hybrid nano-composite aerogels. Materials Research Society, Boston, pp 435–440
Zhang W, Zhang Y, Lu C, Deng Y (2012) J Mat Chem 22 11642–11650
Rudaz C, Courson R, Bonnet L, Calas-Etienne S, Sallée H, Budtova T (2014) Biomacromolecules 15:2188–2195
Sescousse R, Gavillon R, Budtova T (2011) Carbohydr Polym 83:1766–1774
Kobayashi Y, Saito T, Isogai A (2014) Angew Chem Int Ed 53:10394–10397
Zhao S, Zhang Z, Sèbe G, Wu R, Rivera Virtudazo RV, Tingaut P, Koebel MM (2015) Adv Funct Mater 25:2326–2334
Zhang G, Dass A, Rawashdeh A-MM, Thomas J, Counsil JA, Sotiriou-Leventis C, Fabrizio EF, Ilhan F, Vassilaras P, Scheiman DA, McCorkle L, Palczer A, Johnston JC, Meador MA, Leventis N (2004) J Non-Cryst Solids 350:152–164
Randall JP, Meador MAB, Jana SC (2013) J Mater Chem A 1:6642–6652
Meador MAB, Capadona LA, McCorkle L, Papadopoulos DS, Leventis N (2007) Chem Mater 19:2247–2260
Capadona LA, Meador MAB, Alunni A, Fabrizio EF, Vassilaras P, Leventis N (2006) Polymer 47:5754–5761
Meador MAB (2011) Improving elastic properties of polymer-reinforced aerogels. In: Aegerter MA, Leventis N, Koebel MM (eds) Aerogels handbook. Springer, New York, pp 315–334
Churu G, Zupančič B, Mohite D, Wisner C, Luo H, Emri I, Sotiriou-Leventis C, Leventis N, Lu H (2015) J Sol–gel Sci Technol 75:98–123
Bertino MF, Hund JF, Zhang G, Sotiriou-Leventis C, Tokuhiro AT, Leventis N (2004) J Sol–Gel Sci Technol 30:43–48
Ayers MR, Hunt AJ (2001) J Non-Cryst Solids 285:123–127
Hu X, Littrel K, Ji S, Pickles DG, Risen WM Jr (2001) J Non-Cryst Solids 288:184–190
Demilecamps A, Reichenauer G, Rigacci A, Budtova T (2014) Cellulose 21:2625–2636
Quignard F, Valentin R, Di Renzo F (2008) New J Chem 32:1300–1310
Cai J, Liu S, Feng J, Kimura S, Wada M, Kuga S, Zhang L (2012) Angew Chem Int Ed 51:2076–2079
Demilecamps A, Beauger C, Hildenbrand C, Rigacci A, Budtova T (2015) Carbohydr Polym 122:293–300
Hayase G, Kanamori K, Abe K, Yano H, Maeno A, Kaji H, Nakanishi K (2014) ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 6:9466–9471
Zhao S, Malfait WJ, Demilecamps WJ, Zhang Y, Brunner S, Huber L, Tingaut P, Rigacci A, Budtova T, Koebel MM (2015) Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 127:14490–14494
Gavillon R, Budtova T (2007) Biomacromolecules 9:269–277
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Koebel, M.M., Huber, L., Zhao, S. et al. Breakthroughs in cost-effective, scalable production of superinsulating, ambient-dried silica aerogel and silica-biopolymer hybrid aerogels: from laboratory to pilot scale. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 79, 308–318 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-016-4012-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-016-4012-5